Paris Saint-Germain are reportedly back in for the transfer of Arsenal forward Alexis Sanchez after struggling to sign Monaco striker Kylian Mbappe.
The Ligue 1 giants had been linked with Sanchez earlier in the summer, but cooled their interest, leading Manchester City and Bayern Munich to look the leading contenders for his signature.
Bayern, however, have publicly ended their interest in the Chile international, while Arsenal are known to be desperate to avoid selling to one of their Premier League rivals.
City is thought to be Sanchez’s preferred choice as he puts pressure on the Gunners by snubbing their offer of a new contract with the looming threat of him leaving for free in a year’s time.
Arsenal may have been handed a big boost, however, with L’Equipe claiming PSG are ready to try again for Sanchez and have entered into talks with the north Londoners.
Initially put off by the 28-year-old’s £265,000-per-week wage demands, PSG may now be more willing to discuss a deal as they run out of options for a big-name signing up front.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was also linked with the club earlier in the summer before the move failed to materialise, while reports elsewhere link them with an ambitious bid for Barcelona star Neymar.
The Brazilian would be considerably more expensive, however, and so the option to poach Sanchez could look increasingly tempting even if Arsenal are reportedly holding out for as much as £80million for a player in the final year of his contract.
Sanchez has more or less confirmed he wants to leave the Emirates Stadium, saying last week: ‘I want to play the Champions League. The decision does not depend on me, I have to wait for Arsenal.
‘I’ve made my decision, now I wait for Arsenal’s reply. The idea is to play and win the Champions League. I’ve dreamt about it since I was a kid.’
If Arsenal don’t want to strengthen a rival, PSG may now be their best hope of getting the deal they want, with Bayern earlier ruling themselves out of the running for Sanchez.
‘I don’t know what (Sanchez) has said but we are no longer involved,’ Bayern CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge said.
‘We are in agreement with the coach (Carlo Ancelotti) and we won’t be doing another deal for an attacker. That makes no sense.’
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